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abenm613
Guest
As for which lines would survive the complete cut of subsidies, only the Northeast corridor gets enough revenue to be considered operationally self-sufficient. But, given the fact the Amtrak has already survive the hostile Reagan administration (which kept zeroing it out from budget proposal every year during his second term), the so-call Reform Act (which was calling upon Amtrak to become self-sufficient by the end of 2002), the near-shutdown crisis in the summer of 2002, quite a number of anti-Amtrak's calls from the G.W.Bush administration, I believe it's safe to assume that Republicans (or, to be more precise, anti-rail conservative Republicans) will never get sufficient power in Congress to directly threaten Amtrak's survival. There will always be too many Democrats and moderate Republicans who will stand strong for protecting the existing Amtrak services. And even the conservative anti-rail Republicans, who are being sponsored by oil tycoons, would perhaps think twice before actively pulling a trigger on Amtrak's survival, realizing that the constituents may not forgive them the demise of the train service through their towns, no matter how generously their campaign is sponsored by oil tycoons. And, if anything, even if anti-rail sentiments among Republicans do increase, they may not even get a majority at the next election. So, there are too many odds against anti-rail forces (and in favor of Amtrak).
But, yes, adequate funding IS critical for keeping the nationwide Amtrak network intact (because only the corridor services, Northeast Corridor in particular, would be able to keep running without it); and, conversely, keeping the national network intact IS critical for maintaining the political support for Amtrak (because, after all, why would the legislators from Alabama or Texas support a railroad that only serves the Northeast). The existing Amtrak network is turning 40 this year, which means it has passed the test of time.
But, yes, adequate funding IS critical for keeping the nationwide Amtrak network intact (because only the corridor services, Northeast Corridor in particular, would be able to keep running without it); and, conversely, keeping the national network intact IS critical for maintaining the political support for Amtrak (because, after all, why would the legislators from Alabama or Texas support a railroad that only serves the Northeast). The existing Amtrak network is turning 40 this year, which means it has passed the test of time.